During The Cold War, Turkey And The U.s. Relationship

AbstractTurkish - U.S Relations during the Cold War From late 1940's to the 1950's, the Soviet Union posed a serious threat to Turkey. The U.S protected Turkey against the Soviet Threat. During this Turkish-U.S Honeymoon period, the U.S. offered Turkey a great deal of economic and military aid .In 1952 Turkey was admitted to NATO. The U.S set up a lot of military bases and electronic reconnaissance installations in Turkey. Turkey cooperated closely with the U.S in the military alliances such as NATO, the Middle East Command, the Baghdad Pact,etc. As a result, The Soviet Union and most third world countries isolated Turkey. In the 1960's and 1970's, with the Turkish-Soviet rapprochement, the U.S policies towards Cyprus enraged Turkey several times. The U.S and NATO forwarded "the flexible response strategy" .The U.S withdrew the Jupiter missiles from Turkey without its permission. The U.S forced Turkey to ban poppy growing. The U.S imposed arms embargo against Turkey from 1975 to 1978. Turkish-U.S relations deteriorated. For many times, Turkey felt betrayed and neglected by the U.S and NATO. The oil crisis made Turkey know better about the strength of its oil-producing neighbors. Despite U.S opposition, since early 1960's Turkey began to develop better relations with the Soviet Union and the third world countries. It remained neutral in the Arab-Israeli conflicts. In this way, Turkey hoped to avoid isolation in the international arena, to seek wider support on the Cyprus issue, and to get stable oil inflow from its oil-producing neighbors. The 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan increased Turkey's strategic value. In 1980 Turkey signed the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement with the U.S. During Reagan's Presidency the Cold War situation was very tense. Turkish-U.S relations were less strained. But there were still some nuisances that constantly bothered their Relations. They did not reach a consensus on every issue any more.From the late 1980's till 1991, the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkey's value as a cold war warrior and front against the Soviet Union disappeared. In order to prove its ongoing strategic value in the new era, Turkey contributed a lot to the defeat of Iraq during the Gulf War. Turkish-U.S relations became closer again. However, Turkey would never follow the U.S as closely as it did during the Turkish-U.S Honeymoon period.